Stutter
by SoraxRiku13
Summary: What happens when two outcasts meet and become friends? Life happens. Yet now they're slightly different than before.


_**Hi so this was a request by the lovely** Arisa **from** Ladies of Literature **who gave me permission to use her OC and she also helped me ut a little so I'm excited for this lol**_

 _ **Also this is a FFXV fanfic so this may contain minor spoilers. Just a heads up. (That game fucked me up so bad but I loved it)**_

 _ **Prompto is bae lol**_

 _ **ENJOY~**_

 _ **DISCLAIMER: Final Fantasy XV does not belong to me. Neither does Rayne.**_

* * *

"Hey..."

There she stood quiet, reserved, yet beautiful and extraordinary in her own way. A girl he had only seen from afar, a girl who shared a class with him throughout a few years, a girl who looked like all she wanted was a friend.

He had just attempted to befriend the prince and it didn't really go according to plan. He was determined to change, to be a better person both physically _and_ personally. But right now, that wasn't going through his mind.

She stood there, timidly while holding a blue chocobo plush against her chest, waiting to be fully acknowledged by the boy who stood there, awestruck.

 _She's talking to me?_

"U-um h-hi…" Her golden amber eyes widened and she gave him a small smile.

"I just… saw what happened, um, right now." His felt his cheeks burn from embarrassment. "I thought you did good. Are you going to keep trying to talk to him?"

"U-uh w-well not li-like I am now…"

"What's wrong with how you are now? I think you're good just like that." She gave him a softer smile. "I'm Rayne. And you are..?"

"A-ah! Prompto! I'm Prompto." He returned the smile.

"So," Rayne pointed at the camera in Prompto's hands before continuing her statement, "What's, uh… What's that for?"

"Ah… It's a hobby of mine to take pictures of things I like." Prompto played with his camera, waiting for an answer from his newfound friend.

"Can I see..? The pictures, I mean."

"Y-yeah ok, s-sure!" He stretched out his arm towards her, handing her the camera and waited.

"Wow, there's some really good photos here!" She gave the camera back and looked around the area before giving her attention to Prompto. "Ever thought of being a photographer? You have the talent and it suits you." Another small smile.

"Y-you really think so?" Claiming he was ecstatic to hear someone else say that was an understatement. The boy loved photography. He loved finding beauty in the world around him. He loved capturing the best moments he could find. He loved giving things a new light and a new life. Photography was his life and now, someone has finally acknowledged it.

Rayne nodded, seemingly about to say something else until the bell for class rang. "Oh… um well we better get to class soon…"

"W-wait!" Prompto was amazed at his own outburst as he saw Rayne standing still, looking at him with her unique colored eyes. "W-would you like to come over? We could talk more!"

"Is that… ok?" Prompto's face shone with delight as he nodded.

~•~

A few days had passed since both children had first spoken to each other. They regularly hung out at his house, speaking about several things and nothing at the same time. Prompto left Rayne in his room and went to get something from the kitchen. When he returned, Rayne was looking outside the window.

 _Click!_

"Did you just take a picture of me?" Rayne questioned as she sat on Prompto's bed.

"I did, I'm sorry! I couldn't help it! I… I just really liked how... well, you were lost in your thoughts and yeah…. I-I'll delete it now if you want!" Rayne hid her face behind her chocobo plush and giggled.

"It's fine, I want to see it." Prompto walked over and plopped himself next to her on his bed and turned the camera's screen towards her. "Wow…" Her eyes widened as she analyzed the image in front of her. "I like it."

"I'm glad!" Prompto felt his stomach start to rumble. Unconsciously rubbing his tummy, he turned towards Rayne. "Hey, you hungry?"

"U-um n-no, I'll eat when I get home…" Prompto had noticed that Rayne looked a little too underweight, especially with the baggy black t-shirt she always wore.

"Ray… Is something going on…?" She simply shook her head in response. Prompto stayed quiet for a bit before continuing. "Ray, um, would… would you like to come to my house after school every day? I can walk you home too." Rayne looked like she was about to refuse but she stayed quiet and thought about the offer. "I'm sorry, I just can't stand to leave you alone. Not while knowing something is going on…" Tears fell from Rayne's face and Prompto began to freak out internally.

"D-don't worry, I'm ok right now… I'm just… really happy…" More tears fell and she quickly hid behind her plush. She felt arms wrap around her small body and pull her close.

"I'm here. For as long as I can, I'll always be here. I promise."

The both of them pulled away, reluctantly, and Rayne wiped the remaining tears from her cheeks. "Thank you. Thank you for being my friend. Everyone else at school just picks on me for being different…" She smiled when she looked at Prompto. "But you treated me like a regular human and not a freak. Thank you so much." Prompto blushed intensely.

"Y-you're welcome!"

"It's getting a little late… wanna walk me home..?" Prompto smiled and nodded, standing up and offering Rayne a hand.

The night as a little chilly, resulting in Prompto sharing his sweater with Rayne as they walked to her house. It didn't take long to reach her house and before Rayne walked up to the front door, she gave Prompto a hug. Everything seemed to be going well, even her good bye, but she soon as the door opened, she was dragged inside immediately and the door was slammed shut.

Prompto now understood what Rayne had been going through and it broke him a little inside. Thinking back to what Rayne had told him earlier and seeing what had happened now, he took his promise to heart.

The same routine happened for several more weeks, always ending in a slammed front door. Everything looked like it would've continued the same but it wasn't until Prompto stopped seeing Rayne at school.

It worried him, especially knowing how her life with her foster parents was. _She could be dead._ It was always the same thought that came to his mind, no matter what happened.

It wasn't until he overheard a conversation between two teachers that he found out what had actually occurred.

Rayne's social worker had found out about her foster parents abusing her and she was immediately taken from them. Prompto was happy knowing she was still alive. Still, his heart sank knowing he may never see her again.

~•~

"I want to ride my chocobo all day~"

"Ugh.."

"What? I can't get it out of my head!" Prompto grinned as the party of four had just finished their hunt. They were on their way back to Wiz's Chocobo Post to collect their rewards.

"Urgh… More hunts just keep piling up."

"That and Wiz wanted us to check on that wild chocobo out in Leide."

"Oh! Oh! Can we stop by Hammerhead while we're there?!"

"Is Cindy all you think about?" Gladio crossed his arms while Noctis and Ignis tried to seem uninterested.

"Well duh! She's a goddess!"

"And she's married to her work."

"She's still a goddess.." Prompto ignored the comment as he started getting into the car.

"Wait, Prompto." Ignis turned to Noctis. "Maybe we should wait till morning. It's getting dark." Noctis looked at the blond sitting in the car, pleading him, and all Noctis could do was sigh.

"I can take over." Ignis looked back towards Prompto.

"Well, if you insist… Just keep your recklessness at a minimum please."

It didn't take them long to reach Hammerhead, though the daemons that appeared in their way caused them a bit of trouble. It was past midnight when they arrived and straight to bed they went.

Ignis and Gladio were the first ones up in the morning, as usual. Prompto took a little longer but still woke up before the prince. Leaving the caravan, Prompto noticed Ignis and Gladio looking towards the Regalia and seeming quite displeased.

"What's going on guys?"

"Ah, Prompto. Well, we were discussing about the Regalia current state..."

"Simple, have Cindy service it! I mean we are here after all."

"Unfortunately, Noctis has not woken up yet."

"I've got an idea. Why don't _you_ go ask her yourself?"

"W-what? No, no way. Can't do it."

"Too scared to actually talk to her? Really?" Prompto pouted slightly and crossed his arms.

"You know what, fine. I will talk to her!" Prompto walked towards the garage, hoping to find her inside since he hadn't seen her anywhere else. When he finally found her, she was working on a pair of motorbikes. He was about to call out her name when he noticed someone standing next to her. She wore a baggy t-shirt with the back tied off in a knot, showing off her stomach and small of her back, blue and black plaid shorts, combat boots, and a bandanna tied around her right upper arm. She was also covered in grease as she had apparently helped Cindy with the bike.

Prompto froze in place, believing it was just a dream and that the woman standing there wasn't really his childhood crush. He even pinched himself to see if he'd wake up. It wasn't until he heard another voice call out to her that he realized, this wasn't dream.

"Rayne!" Another woman walked into the garage, holding drinks and food in her arms and tossed a drink to Rayne. Rayne caught it and immediately opened and drank some of it. That's when Prompto locked eye contact with the unknown female for only a moment. "Hey, Ray, you got some dweeb staring at you." Rayne turned to look and sputtered out her drink, nearly missing Cindy.

"Gosh darn it, cowgirl, there's a spitoon yonder that way. You don' need to be usin' me for that."

"I-I'm so sorry! I didn't mean for that to happen!" Rayne put her drink aside and turned to her friend. "I'll be right back, Scar." She then turned towards Prompto and sprinted towards him, tackling him.

"W-whoa!" Prompto lost his footing, causing the both of them to fall to the floor.

"Prompto! It really is you!"

"R-Rayne?" She gave him one last hug before pulling apart and analyzing him.

"Jeez, you're a stick now. I liked it better when you were all chubby and cute." She began to poke his sides, causing him to squirm slightly.

"A-anyways, how, uh, how are you?" Prompto began standing up, brushing off any dirt that stuck to his clothes and offered a hand to Rayne to help her up. "I haven't seen you in so long. Was beginning to think I would never see you again…" He blushed slightly and rubbed the back of his head.

"Ah.. right.. well there's just so much to talk about…" Rayne twirled the tips of her hair between her fingers. "Wanna get something to eat at the diner?" Prompto nodded and Rayne smiled. "Alright, just let me get my bag 'cause that's where my money is." She ran back into the garage, grabbing a black bag that had a blue chocobo plush sticking out of it.

"You still have it?" Prompto questioned amusingly when Rayne walked back. "I mean your plush."

"Of course I do. I'm never letting this one go. It… it means a lot to me.." Rayne hugged her bag before taking Prompto's hand and pulling him towards the diner.

"I heard what happened back then. You know, when you left." Prompto was the first to talk once they were seated inside.

"From who..?"

"A passing conversation between teachers."

"Oh, of course…" Rayne looked down and played with her hair again. "I… I'm sorry I just disappeared like that… I would've wish to have said good bye at least…"

"Ray, it's totally fine. Well, I mean, I'm… I'm not gonna lie and say it didn't hurt. But there wasn't really anything I could do anymore." Prompto placed his arm on the table and rested his head on his hand. "At least my first thoughts were wrong and that relieved me…" Rayne looked at him with confusion written all over her face, waiting for him to explain. "I, uh… I thought you were dead or something…."

"Well I'm just glad I got to see you again." Prompto looked at Rayne, noticing a slight tint of red decorating her face. His first reaction was to take a picture, which he did, surprising Rayne with the sudden flash. "You… you still carry a camera wherever you go?" Prompto smiled softly in response. "Well, looks like the only thing that changed was your appearance. I'm glad you're still the dork I love-" She covered her mouth quickly, hoping that Prompto hadn't heard her.

He did.

"W-wait, what do you mean?" She looked away and covered her face with her hands. "Ray, come on." He placed his free hand on her shoulder reassuringly. She finally looked at him, her face still red with embarrassment.

"I… You…." She sighed, getting her thoughts together before continuing, "You were my first crush. I've liked you for the longest time and now… Now you're here and I'm.. well, I'm really happy." Prompto's face turned red at her confession.

"Ah.. well…. I gotta say I've really liked you too, Ray. More than just a friend…" Rayne's eyes widened.

"You mean…" Prompto nodded and smiled at her. "W-wow… who woulda thought…" Rayne giggled and turned her entire body towards him. "Hey, did you ever become friends with the prince?"

"Funny story really… he's here right now."

"Oh what really?!"

"Shhh! We're trying not to catch too much attention…"

"Oh.. right…"

"Still, would you like to meet him?"

"Would it be ok…?"

"Of course it's ok! He's probably the only one that knows about you." A soft blush appeared on Rayne's face.

"Then, if it's alright… I would very much like to. There's also someone I want you to meet but let's do that after we eat."

Both Prompto and Rayne were surprised to see each that Gladio and Scarlet, Rayne's friend, had been conversing with each other. Rayne decided it was better to leave them alone a little while longer.

Prompto spotted Noctis nearby the garage and grabbed Rayne's hand to guide her to the prince. The two surprisingly got along, mostly talking about silly things Prompto had done during the time they hung out together, making Prompto want to hide from the world.

"Well, Prompto… I'm sad to say I have to go… Scarlet and I only came here to get our bikes fixed so we could go on our hunt."

"Oh, well could we take a picture together then?"

"I'd be glad to."

 _Click!_

"Well, we really gotta go. We'll see each other again though, right?"

"Of course!"

"You promise?"

"I promise." Rayne giggled, walking up to Prompto before quickly giving him a peck on his cheek and left.

With the Regalia fixed and the four friends on the road again, Prompto kept looking at the photo he had taken with Rayne.

"You planning on seeing her again?"

"Definitely. We promised, after all. And she and I… we always keep our promises."

* * *

 _ **Well I hope you enjoyed this little thing I wrote. Took me forever but hey, I finally finished it.**_

 _ **Toodles~**_


End file.
